I have a special treat for you all today! Julie Roberts is here to tell us how to get over the "Winter Blues" and get our rear-ends into gear so we are ready for the summer :D I've taken note to a lot of her ideas and working on them now! ENJOY!
Fitness Tips to Beat the Winter Blues –
A Post from Julie Roberts
It’s the New Year,
and that means that it’s time to think of new things. I try to keep my workouts
fresh, but sometimes I get stuck in the same old boring routine. I know that I
will be so much happier when I have done my exercises for the day. But when I
start to notice that I just want to get it out of the way, it’s time for a
change. This year is going to be great. I’m going to keep my momentum in the
winter, so I’m not worried about the way I look when swimsuit season catches me
by surprise.Get Motivated
The winter can be a killer when it comes to exercise motivation: shorter days, bone-chilling temperatures, and post-holiday blues. Not to mention the after-effects of holiday buffet and dessert table visits are beginning to show face. When I get up in the morning, I remind myself that an hour of exercise is time I not only should spare, but I must spare.
Winter can really put you into a melancholy mood. Exercise is like the antidote. . It doesn't matter what my circumstances are. If I wake up later than planned, I will do a shorter, more intense workout. And if I wake up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I will do a longer, more complete workout. I also find it helps to have all my workout clothes laid out the night before, right down to the socks. I get dressed first thing – even before brushing my teeth. I find that this helps me to get right into it, instead of lagging and finding excuses not to workout.
Change It Up
I try to imagine how awful it would be if I woke up every morning and ate exactly the same thing for breakfast…day in, day out, week in, week out. Yet, sometimes we do this with our workouts. We do the same exercise over and over again, regardless of the fact that it’s not working as well for us as it did when we first started. My body needs a challenge to stay focused and interested in improvement. So, I like to change it up frequently. A couple days a week, I get heart-pounding cardio doing elliptical interval workouts. A couple days, I work on strengthening and toning my muscles through weight training. And sometimes I switch it up and take a yoga class. And then on the last day, I might just enjoy going for a walk in the winter weather to see the lights and snow.
Stay In
We’re at that time of year where it is not just cold. It is horrible, ugly, “why are you doing this to me?!” cold. Some days I just do not want to head out to the gym in this weather. For the next month or two, I really get into my indoor workouts. The nice thing is that you don’t need a ton of space or equipment to get a great indoor workout. Many websites offer programs and even videos that you can watch and exercise in relative ease. If I don’t feel like using weights, I will swap in my resistance bands or balance ball - both of which I recently purchased from Beachbody.com. The convenience of this should not be overlooked. I can be ready to exercise in minutes, and done in a short period of time. It’s a perfect use of my kids’ naptime.
Don’t get me wrong. I love winter. I just don’t always love exercising in it. Between the gym and my home, I can create enough varied workout routines that I am not only going to stay fit, I will keep up my motivation so that I’m ready to blast right through my goals as the year progresses. This way, when bikini season does sneaks up, I will be in great shape to really ramp up my workouts and get fully into shape for the summer months. So remember, it’s up to you to beat those winter blues. By doing indoor workouts and some shorter, more intense, interval workouts, you can help maintain your routine throughout the rough, colder months, and go right into your summer routines without skipping a beat!
